Garrett Cheeseman

English 1201

Prof. Kretzer

Sunday July 11th, 2021

Literature Review

Poverty is a very complex issue with various potential causes. While the causes of

poverty are often looked to, methods or strategies to avoid poverty past providing government

aid are not often discussed. Some factors that contribute greatly to avoiding poverty are a two

parent family, education, and employment. Although these three things lead to a higher chance

of avoiding poverty it is important to have a good understanding of what factors contribute to

poverty most often. Some of these factors are race, sex and single parent households. Poverty,

especially generational poverty, are huge issues affecting our country but what can be done?

There are many different types of poverty but the most common understanding of poverty

is not being able to provide for one's needs. Merriam Webster defines poverty as “the state of one

who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money.” This definition, although accurate,

does not fully encompass what poverty is. Poverty can be a lack of clean water, a lack of food or

even a lack of monetary means to obtain what is needed for a minimal standard of living. The

concept of food poverty is discussed in great length by Leslie Hossfield of Vanderbilt University

in her paper titled “Food and Poverty : Food Insecurity and Food Sovereignty among America’s

Poor.” This peer reviewed paper not only defines food poverty but also looks into what can be

done to avoid it. Food poverty is defined as when constraints exist such that “it is not possible for

individuals or households to consume a nutritionally adequate diet, they could be considered to

be in food poverty.” With a working definition of food poverty she analyzes many cases of food
poverty and connects monetary poverty with food poverty. The best example of this is the famine

that took place in Ethiopia in the 1970’s where even though food was available fifty to two

hundred thousand people starved to death. This food poverty was created by the inability to

“afford to buy food” (Hossfield 20).

This shows that one of the best ways to help prevent food poverty would be to have some

sort of a program ensuring that all citizens of a country are able to get the daily nutrients needed

in order to survive. One of the main ways this issue is dealt with in America is through food

stamps as well as food provided by charities. This is not the form of poverty that is most

common in America yet it is still present. The most viable solution to this relies on each

american to help other citizens out as well as the government continuing the programs they have

in place to help everyone get the food they need.

The definition of poverty we will use for the rest of this is defined by the United States

Government as any person or household whose income is below the poverty line. This is a

monetary measurement used to define poverty. This poverty line is determined by what amount

of income would be the absolute minimum in order to have a minimal standard of living in the

United States. Although this is not a complete definition it is what is used in the studies

analyzed.

What can an individual in America do to avoid poverty? Yes it is something one can be

born into but what then can be done to escape or avoid poverty? The Brookings Institute of

Washington D.C. has spent decades doing in depth research into the issue of poverty. In 2013

they found that there are three choices that can be made that lead to 98% of adults who have

done these things avoiding poverty. These three things are “finish high school, get a full-time job

and wait until age 21 to get married and have children.” (Haskins) They found that if you do
these three things you have a 98% chance of avoiding poverty and better yet a 75% chance of

joining the middle class. This study was conducted over seven years ago but is still supported by

the Brookings Institute.

With this knowledge Haskins argues that instead of just providing monetary aid to those

in poverty we should “convince young people that their decisions will greatly influence whether

they avoid poverty and enter the middle class.” (Haskins) This could be done by government

campaigns as well as through political figures putting the belief and power back into the hands of

the citizen. This idea varies greatly from the more common approach of providing aid and not a

way to escape or avoid poverty.

One of the factors that seems to be directly related to poverty is single parent households.

According to Pew Research approximately one in five children are being raised by single

mothers. Of these single mother households over thirty percent of them live at or below the

poverty level. This is over six times higher than the poverty rate seen in two parent households.

Having two parents in the home is another factor that plays a huge role in avoiding poverty. This

can only be changed by the decisions made by parents. With rising divorce rates and single

parent homes the future looks bleak but if the importance of a two parent household is pushed by

the media or by the government we could eventually see the rates of poverty decrease.

Some things can be done to prevent poverty, but what factors related to poverty have no

clear solutions. The largest factor with no clear solution would be that of different poverty rates

among different races in America. The most glaring difference comes when you compare the

poverty rate of African Americans and White Americans, at twenty-one percent vs. nine percent.

This vast difference is often attributed to America’s history in which African Americans were

not treated equally under the law until 1964. This does play a role in the vast difference observed
there are many other variables that contribute to this issue of inequality. For example 30% of

solo mothers are African American vs 40% that are White. There are 8.5 million single mother

families in the U.S. and 15 million African American households. That means that seventeen

percent of African American households are led by single mothers and over thirty percent of

them are living at or below poverty. This rate of single motherhood in the African American

population is 17% which is over five times higher than the 3.3% seen in white households. This

shows that although poverty appears to be separated purely on race based lines, it is not always

purely based on race. The rates of single motherhood are just a small example that leads to a

difference of poverty rates of over 6% when you assume 30% of single mother households will

live at or below the poverty line. This does not at all entirely account for the difference but helps

show that poverty statistics can not be viewed purely from a race based point of view.

Poverty is a complex issue that can be understood and prevented in the future. The key to

this change is a shift in American culture and a focus on developing strong family units as well

as developing programs to let people know the power is in their hands and they can make

choices to help them escape poverty. This is not the case for every person who is in poverty but

these two things would have an enormous impact on poverty rates in America, helping people

avoid living in poverty.

Works Cited
Brady, David, and Zachary Parolin. “The Levels and Trends in Deep and Extreme Poverty in the

United States, 1993–2016.” Demography (Springer Nature), vol. 57, no. 6, Dec. 2020, pp.

2337–2360. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s13524-020-00924-1.

Desmond, Matthew. “Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty. They're Not.

(Published 2018).” Google, Google, 11 Sept. 2017,

www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/magazine/americans-jobs-

poverty-homeless.amp.html.

Hossfeld, Leslie H., et al. Food and Poverty : Food Insecurity and Food Sovereignty among

America’s Poor. Vanderbilt University Press, 2018. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1978085&site=eds-live.

Lips, Brad. “Stop Throwing Cash at Poor Nations.” Google, Google, 22 Oct. 2017,

www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/opinion/stop-throwing-cash-at-poor-

nations.amp.

Livingston, G. (2020, August 27). Facts On Unmarried Parents in the U.S. Pew Research

Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-

trends/2018/04/25/the-changing-profile-of-unmarried-parents/.

Perry, Andre M. “Addressing Poverty Can Heal an Increasingly Divided Country.” Google,

Google, 23 Dec. 2019, www.google.com/amp/s/www.brookings.edu/blog/the-

avenue/2019/12/23/poverty-in-america-is-rising-we-need-a-plan-to-fight-it/amp/.

“Preventing Poverty; Letters to the Editor.” Daily Telegraph (London, England), 1 July 2021.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.666986625&site=eds-live.
 Reeves, Richard V., and Sarah Nzau. “Poverty Hurts the Boys the Most: Inequality at the

Intersection of Class and Gender.” Brookings, Brookings, 14 June 2021,

www.brookings.edu/research/poverty-hurts-the-boys-the-most-inequality-at-the-

intersection-of-class-and-gender/

Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. Distributed by Paw Prints/Baker

& Taylor, 2009.

Smith, Ron. “Preventing Poverty.” Policy & Practice (19426828), vol. 71, no. 4, Aug. 2013, pp.

6–38. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f5h&AN=89684471&site=eds-live.

Wang, Jincheng. “Poverty Caused by Education: Educational Issues in China in the New Era.”

Science Insights Education Frontiers, vol. 8, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 943–958. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1286816&site=eds-live.

Winship, Scott, et al. “Long Shadows: The Black-White Gap in Multigenerational Poverty.”

Brookings, Brookings, 10 June 2021, www.brookings.edu/research/long-shadows-the-

black-white-gap-in-multigenerational-poverty/.

“Working 100 Hours A Week To Just About Make It (Poverty Documentary): Real Stories.”

YouTube, 16 Mar. 2021, youtu.be/kZVErGOKc6c.